Category: Shooting Training and Tips

Well, we had a Hornady Law Enforcement ammunition gel test shoot this morning. Very cool stuff. Learned a lot about the performance of bullets through various barriers and saw how they did first hand.

The nice thing was got to shoot my personal self-defense rounds I loaded myself at the gel tests, and they performed better than I even expected. Perfect formation, huge cavity and 100% weight retention. 185 grain Barnes Tac XP .45 bullets, sitting on new Starline Brass, CCI primers and Longshot powder. And this is what they looked like after 1 into bare gel and two into heavy clothing barriers and then gel. I think these are a keeper for my EDC carry!

Like this:

When asked what I thought were the top ten concealed carry firearms, I thought about it and realized that you really couldn’t pick ten guns to be “the” guns. Each person is different, and has current styles and needs based on life factors that will help decide what gun is best for them. There are a few things people need to consider before they go out and buy a firearm for a concealed carry weapon. You have to consider your size (not the firearm, but your physical size), your experience with firearms, your lifestyle, and your clothing choices.

If you are really considering carrying a firearm for self defense, or one for your home or vehicle, you need to do a few things first. You need to learn your state’s laws on self defense, home defense, and defense in your vehicle. You need to learn to shoot and become proficient in the use of your firearm. You have to know you can use it while under stress, and once you can do that, you should not stop learning and training with it; your life may depend on it. Find a local firearms trainer and a local gun shop. Try out a few different firearms and different calibers. Find one you like, that you can shoot well, and that you will actually carry.

OK, you have decided to take that big step and buy a self-defense firearm for home or carry. Or maybe you got one for Christmas. Regardless of whether you already have one or are thinking of getting one, you need to be a responsible firearm owner. What does that entail? Well, take it from someone who has owned and used firearms for more than 40 years as part of my daily life, both as a police officer and firearms instructor. GET TRAINED!

The very first things you should learn if you are thinking of buying or already own a firearm are the four cardinal rules of gun safety. These rules apply anywhere in the world and are recognized as being the basis for all gun safety and training. Memorize them, follow them, and make others who are near you follow them too. They are simple and easy to remember and understand:

Treat all firearms as if they are loaded, regardless of whether they are or not!

Never point a firearm at anything unless you are willing to kill or destroy it!

Always identify your target and what is beyond it!

Keep your finger off the trigger until you are on target and ready to shoot!

“The only reason this could be true is that you’re either scared of your firearm or you’re simply not properly trained. If either is the case, STOP CARRYING!”

As a firearms instructor that carried a firearm as a cop for decades, and still carries one today, I understand the need for quick and immediate access to your self-defense firearm. That is why I am a proponent of the open carry of firearms if you are legally able to do so in your state. There is a reason why we LEO’s carry our firearms openly. It acts as a crime deterrent, and it gives ready access to your defensive firearm. I am also very set on teaching the benefit of carrying with a round in the chamber as you can tell from the title!

Any time there is a discussion about gun laws, concealed carry versus open carry, and the various other issues revolving around the possession of firearms, someone will always bring up the issue that law enforcement will be confused and possibly shoot a licensed concealed carry or open carry firearms holder if involved in a mass shooting, Lone Wolf, or terrorist attack. Some of the anti-gun crowd like to use the “police won’t know who the bad guy is” argument or the “good guys with guns don’t stop bad guys with guns” line against arguments for less gun control.

If you are lucky enough to live in a state that allows concealed carry without a license — or open carry, for that matter — count yourself fortunate. If you live in a state that requires a license to exercise your Second Amendment rights, you fall within the majority of the nation. Either way if you carry a firearm and choose to do so (and what logical, realist, thinking adult wouldn’t) not many firearms classes cover what to do if you are caught up in some kind of a mass shooting or active shooter situation. So let’s try and cover a few options that you can pick from, gleaned from a few decades of training in firearms and law enforcement.

When did it stop being cool or hip or whatever word you want to use in our society to be self-reliant and able to take care of yourself and your family? When did our ability to defend ourselves and defend those that we love become something that was considered wrong, or evil?

How in the world did we raise so many people in these United States to be afraid to defend themselves, even to the point of not fighting back when they know there is no other recourse but to die groveling in front of some lunatic or a madman with a gun?

I had a discussion, just the other day, with someone in an internet group who asked what they could have in their home other than a gun to defend their home and their family from an intruder. The conversation went on and I was informed that the person asking the question was doing so for a family member who was “very liberal” and scared of firearms. I thought to myself, how did this person who is afraid of firearms and “does not want to hurt the intruder” make it to this point? What possibly could have caused them to be this way?

It happened again! Another attack on a college campus. This time it was Ohio State University, and it was not a gun being used, but a knife that wounded 11 people. The suspect (I will not dignify or promote the terrorists name) is dead of a gunshot wound from a campus police officer who just happened to be in the area at the time of the attack. What in the world are we doing America? Why can we not stop these attacks on our college campuses and other places where we gather in large numbers? Why can’t we just pass a law? Maybe more gun control laws would help. Take away all the guns and the attacks would stop right? If guns were harder to get, then these attacks would stop right? I forgot, this one was with a knife and it was a gun that saved more people from being injured or killed. Yes, I know that it was a police officer that shot and killed the suspect, but what if that officer had not been in the area at the time of the incident? What if it had taken them the normal 3-5 minutes to respond like it does everywhere in the country (and that is being kind and conservative in response times, they are much longer in many places).

What can we do to lessen the impact or to stop these kinds of terrorist attacks when they happen? Let’s look at this realistically and not emotionally like the large majority of the anti-gun crowd. Put away your fear and your hate for all things gun-related for just a few minutes as you read this. Since this was a knife attack and had nothing to do with guns, with the exception that a gun, in fact, saved everyone’s lives, consider the facts that gun laws would have done nothing to change the outcome of this. Or could they have?